Semiconductor light-emitting device

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor light-emitting device can include a wavelength converting layer including a surrounding portion, which covers at least one semiconductor light-emitting chip in order to emit various colored lights including white light. The semiconductor light-emitting device can include a substrate, a frame located on the substrate, the chip mounted on the substrate, a transparent material layer located on the wavelength converting layer so as to reduce from the wavelength converting layer toward a light-emitting surface thereof, and a reflective material layer disposed at least between the frame and both side surfaces of the wavelength converting layer and the transparent material layer. The semiconductor light-emitting device can be configured to improve light-emitting efficiency and a color variation by using the surrounding portion and an inclined side surface of transparent material layer, and therefore can emit various colored lights including white light having a high light-emitting efficiency from a small light-emitting surface.

This application is a Divisional of and claims the priority benefitunder 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/163,992filed on Jan. 24, 2014, and claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-010839 filed on Jan. 24, 2013,which are both hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The presently disclosed subject matter relates to semiconductorlight-emitting devices in which light emitted from a semiconductorlight-emitting chip is wavelength-converted by a wavelength convertinglayer, and more particularly, the disclosed subject matter relates tosemiconductor light-emitting devices for a vehicle light and the like,which can emit various mixture lights having a high light-emittingefficiency and a substantially same color tone from a smalllight-emitting surface.

2. Description of the Related Art

Semiconductor light-emitting devices, in which a part of the lightemitted from a semiconductor light-emitting chip is converted into lighthaving a different wavelength by a phosphor and in which a mixture lightcomprises the light having the different wavelength mixed with the lightemitted directly from the light-emitting chip is emitted, have been usedas a light source for various lighting units. Such light-emittingdevices have been also used as a light source for vehicle lamps such asa headlight for reasons of a battery friendly, lamp miniaturization,etc.

When the semiconductor light-emitting devices are used as a light sourcefor a lighting unit such as a vehicle headlight, which controls lightemitted from the light-emitting devices using a reflector and/or aprojector lens, a light-emitting device having a small light-emittingsurface may be desired to efficiently control light emitted from thelight-emitting device with a small optical structure. Therefore,conventional semiconductor light-emitting devices including a wavelengthmaterial, which emit light have a white color tone from a smalllight-emitting surface, for example, are disclosed in Patent DocumentNo. 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2010-272847).

FIG. 13 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view showing a conventionalsemiconductor light-emitting device having a small light-emittingsurface, which is disclosed in Patent Document No. 1. The conventionalsemiconductor light-emitting device 1A includes: a base substrate 5having a mounting surface, and a semiconductor light-emitting chip 2having a top surface, a bottom surface and bottom electrodes located onthe bottom surface, mounted on the mounting surface of the basesubstrate 5 via conductive members 6, each of the bottom electrodeselectrically connected to a respective one of conductor patterns formedon the mounting surface of the base substrate 5 via a respective one ofthe conductive members 6.

In addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 1A also includes: atransparent member 3 having a bottom surface 3 a and a light-emittingsurface 3 b including a wavelength converting material, being disposedon the top surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 2 so as tobe able to wavelength-convert light emitted from the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 2, the bottom surface 3 a thereof being larger thanthe top surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 2, andtherefore a part of the bottom surface 3 a contacting with the topsurface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 2, and thelight-emitting surface 3 b thereof being smaller than the bottom surface3 a: and a reflective resin layer 4 surrounding the transparent member 3and the semiconductor light-emitting chip 2 to prevent the transparentmember 3 from peeling from the semiconductor light-emitting chip 2, andbeing disposed between the mounting surface of the base substrate 5 andthe bottom surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 2 so as tosurround each of the conductive members 6.

Consequently, the conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 1Amay emit a mixture light, in which a part of light emitted from thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 2 is converted into light having adifferent wavelength by the wavelength converting material and the lighthaving the different wavelength is mixed with the light emitted directlyfrom the light-emitting chip 2, from the light-emitting surface that issmaller than the bottom surface 3 a of the transparent member 3including the wavelength converting material in terms of results.

However, the reflective resin layer 4 is also disposed underneathanother part of the bottom surface 3 a of the transparent member 3,which does not contact with the top surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 2, while contacting with a side surface of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 2. Accordingly, it may be difficultfor the conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 1A to use notonly the light emitted from the top surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 2, but also light emitted from the side surface ofthe semiconductor light-emitting chip 2 with high efficiency as themixture light having a wavelength-converted wavelength, which isdifferent from that the light emitted from the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 2.

Therefore, Applicant of the disclosed subject matter discloses otherconventional semiconductor light-emitting devices having a smalllight-emitting surface and a high light-emitting efficiency, which canuse light emitted from a substantially whole light-emitting surfaceincluding a side surface of a semiconductor light-emitting chip, inPatent Document No. 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid OpenJP2013-038187) and in Patent Document No. 3 (U.S. Pat. No. 8,461,610),which are invented by the inventor of the presently disclosed subjectmatter and the like.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view showing anotherconventional semiconductor light-emitting device having a smalllight-emitting surface, which is disclosed in Patent Document No. 2 andNo. 3. The other conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 1Bincludes: a base substrate 17 having a mounting surface and a peripheralportion; a frame 16 mounted on the peripheral portion of the basesubstrate 17; a semiconductor light-emitting chip 11 having bottomelectrodes being mounted on the mounting surface of the base substrate17 via metallic bumps 12, which electrically connects each of the bottomelectrodes to a respective one of conductor patters via a respective oneof the metallic bumps; and a wavelength converting layer 14 beingslightly larger than a top surface of the semiconductor light-emittingchip 11, and being located over the top surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 11 to wavelength-converting light emitted from thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 11.

In addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 1B also includes: atransparent material layer 13 having a side surface 13S being disposedbetween a bottom surface of the wavelength converting layer 14 and thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 11, and the side surface 13S extendingfrom a substantially bottom end of the semiconductor light-emitting chip11 toward a substantially bottom end of the transparent material layer13; and a reflective material layer 15 disposed between an inner surfaceof the frame 16 and the wavelength converting layer 14 and thetransparent material layer 13 and between the bottom surface of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 11 and the mounting surface of thebase substrate 17 so as to surround each of the metallic bumps 12.

According to the conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 1B,light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting chip 11 may widelydirect toward the wavelength converting layer 14, and also light emittedfrom a side surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 11 mayalmost direct toward the wavelength converting layer finally byreflecting the light on the side surface 13S of the transparent materiallayer 13, because the side surface 13S contacts with reflective materiallayer 16 and is formed in a convex shape from the reflective materiallayer 16 toward the wavelength converting layer 14.

In addition, light directed from the semiconductor light-emitting chip11 toward the mounting surface of the base substrate 17 may also bedirected toward the wavelength converting layer 14 by using the bottomsurface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 11, which contacts withthe metallic bumps 12 or the reflective material layer 16. Consequently,the conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 1B can enable mostof light emitted from the light-emitting chip 11 to be directed towardthe wavelength converting layer 14, and therefore can emit a mixturelight having a high light-emitting efficiency from a smalllight-emitting surface, which is a top surface of the wavelengthconverting layer 14. However, the light-emitting surface of thelight-emitting device 1B may be a substantially same shape as a topsurface of the transparent material layer 13, and therefore may not besmaller than the top surface of the transparent material layer 13.

The above-referenced Patent Documents and an additional Patent Documentare listed below and are hereby incorporated with their Englishspecification and abstracts in their entireties.

1. Patent Document No. 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid OpenJP2010-272847

2. Patent Document No. 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid OpenJP2013-038187

3. Patent Document No. 3: U.S. Pat. No. 8,461,610 (ST3001-0307)

4. Patent Document No. 4: U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2012-0025218(ST3001-0312)

5. Patent Document No. 5: U.S. Pat. No. 8,251,560 (ST3001-0242)

6. Patent Document No. 6: U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2012-0320617(ST3001-0242CON)

The disclosed subject matter has been devised to consider the above andother problems, features, and characteristics. Thus, embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter can include semiconductor light-emittingdevices that can emit various mixture lights having a highlight-emitting efficiency and a substantially uniform color tone from asmall light-emitting surface. The disclosed subject matter can alsoinclude a semiconductor light-emitting device using a plurality ofsemiconductor light-emitting chips that can be used forwavelength-converting light having a very high light-emitting intensitywith high light-emitting efficiency from a comparatively smalllight-emitting surface.

SUMMARY

The presently disclosed subject matter has been devised in view of theabove and other problems, features, and characteristics. An aspect ofthe disclosed subject matter includes providing semiconductorlight-emitting devices, which can emit various color lights having ahigh light-emitting intensity and a substantially uniform color tonewith high efficiency from a small light-emitting surface.

According to an aspect of the disclosed subject matter, a semiconductorlight-emitting device can include: a substrate having conductor patternsformed on a mounting surface thereof; a semiconductor light-emittingchip having at least one bottom chip electrode located on a bottomsurface thereof, mounted on the mounting surface of the substrate viasolder bumps, and the bottom chip electrode electrically connected to atleast one of the conductor patterns of the substrate via at least one ofthe solder bumps; and a transparent material layer being formed in atabular shape, located over a top surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip, a bottom surface thereof being larger than the topsurface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip.

In addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device can also include: awavelength converting layer being disposed between a bottom surface ofthe transparent material layer and a side surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip, contacting with the bottom surface of thetransparent material layer and the side surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip, and therefore including a surrounding portion tosurround the side surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip withthe wavelength converting layer, and a side surface of the wavelengthconverting layer extending from the side surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip toward the bottom surface of the transparentmaterial layer; a frame located adjacent the mounting surface of thesubstrate, and surrounding the wavelength converting layer and thetransparent material layer; and a reflective material layer disposedbetween the frame and the side surfaces of the wavelength convertinglayer and the transparent material layer and between the bottom surfaceof the semiconductor light-emitting chip and the mounting surface of thesubstrate while surrounding the solder bumps, wherein an area of the topsurface of the transparent material layer is smaller than that of thetop surface of the wavelength converting layer.

In the above-described exemplary semiconductor light-emitting device,the top surface of the reflective material layer can become higher fromthe frame toward the transparent material layer with reference to themounting surface of the substrate. To form a smaller light-emittingsurface (the top surface of the transparent material layer) than the topsurface of the wavelength converting layer (the bottom surface of thetransparent material layer), the side surface of the transparentmaterial layer can be formed in a substantially inclined planar shapefrom the bottom surface toward the top surface of the transparentmaterial layer, and also the side surface of the transparent materiallayer is composed of a first side surface and a second side surfaceextending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottomsurface from the bottom surface of the transparent material layer, andthe first side surface can connect between the second side surface andthe top surface of the transparent material layer so as to incline fromthe second side surface toward the top surface of the transparentmaterial layer. Additionally, the side surface of the transparentmaterial layer can be formed in a concave shape toward the semiconductorlight-emitting chip, and can also be formed in a convex shape toward thereflective material layer.

Moreover, in the above-described exemplary semiconductor light-emittingdevice, the side surface of the transparent material layer can becomposed of a first side surface and a second side surface extending ina direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of thetransparent material layer from the top surface to the bottom surface ofthe transparent material layer, and the first side surface can connectthe second side surface on the bottom surface of the transparentmaterial layer so as to incline from the bottom surface to the topsurface of the transparent material layer. In this case, each of thefirst side surface and the second side surface of the transparentmaterial layer can include two surfaces facing with respect to eachother, each of the two surfaces of the first side surface can connectbetween the two surfaces of the second side surface, and one of the twosurfaces of the first surface can extend between the top surface and thebottom surface of the transparent material layer at a substantiallyright angle with respect to the bottom surface of the transparentmaterial layer to easily form a clear cut-off line for a headlight.

According to the above-described exemplary semiconductor light-emittingdevice, the device can emit various mixture lights from the top surfaceof the transparent material layer that is slightly larger than the topsurface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip while the surroundingportion of the wavelength converting layer can be used to also movelight emitted the side surface of the light-emitting chip in a middledirection of the transparent material layer as a reflector that extendsfrom the side surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chip towardthe bottom surface of the transparent material layer. Thus, thedisclosed subject matter can provide semiconductor light-emittingdevices that can emit various mixture lights having a highlight-emitting intensity and a substantially uniform color tone withhigh efficiency from a small light-emitting surface.

Another aspect of the disclosed subject matter includes thesemiconductor light-emitting device that can include a plurality ofsemiconductor light-emitting chips with the above-described structuresas set forth in the above paragraphs. In this case, the light-emittingdevice can emit the various mixture lights having a very highlight-emitting intensity by using a large amount of lights emitted fromthe plurality of light-emitting chips. Thus, the disclosed subjectmatter can also provide semiconductor light-emitting devices using aplurality of semiconductor light-emitting chips that can be used forwavelength-converting light having a very high light-emitting intensitywith high light-emitting efficiency from a comparatively smalllight-emitting surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics and features of the disclosed subjectmatter will become clear from the following description with referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view showing a firstexemplary embodiment of a semiconductor light-emitting device made inaccordance with principles of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view showing the semiconductor light-emittingdevice of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory cross-sectional view to explain principal sizesof a structure of the semiconductor light-emitting device shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an exemplaryvariation of the semiconductor light-emitting device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a second exemplaryembodiment of a transparent material layer of the semiconductorlight-emitting device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a third exemplaryembodiment of the transparent material layer of the semiconductorlight-emitting device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a fourth exemplaryembodiment of the transparent material layer of the semiconductorlight-emitting device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a fifth exemplaryembodiment of the transparent material layer of the semiconductorlight-emitting device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view showing a secondexemplary embodiment of a semiconductor light-emitting device made inaccordance with principles of the disclosed subject matter;

FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c are enlarged top views showing a first exemplaryvariation, a second exemplary variation and a third exemplary variationof the semiconductor light-emitting device of FIG. 9, respectively;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged top view showing an exemplary variation of thesemiconductor light-emitting devices shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines AC and CB of thesemiconductor light-emitting device shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view showing a conventionalsemiconductor light-emitting device having a small light-emittingsurface; and

FIG. 14 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view showing anotherconventional semiconductor light-emitting device having a smalllight-emitting surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the disclosed subject matter will now bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 12. FIG. 1 is anenlarged side cross-sectional view showing a first exemplary embodimentof a semiconductor light-emitting device made in accordance withprinciples of the disclosed subject matter, and FIG. 2 is an enlargedtop view showing the semiconductor light-emitting device of FIG. 1.

The semiconductor light-emitting device 100 can include: a sub mountsubstrate 10 (hereinafter referred to as “substrate”) having a mountingsurface 10 a and conductor patterns 10 b formed on the mounting surface10 a; a semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 having a top surface 20 a,a bottom surface 20 b, a side surface 20 c and at least one bottom chipelectrode 20 d located on the bottom surface 20 b, and mounted on themounting surface 10 a of the substrate 10 via solder bumps 70 such as agold bump, and the bottom chip electrode 20 d electrically connected toat least one of the conductor patterns 10 b of the substrate 10 via atleast one of the solder bumps 70; and a transparent material layer 40having a top surface 40 a, a bottom surface 40 b and a side surface 40 cbeing formed in a tabular shape, located over the top surface 20 a ofthe semiconductor light-emitting chip 20, and the bottom surface 40 bthereof being slightly larger than the top surface 20 a of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20.

In addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 can alsoinclude; a wavelength converting layer 30 having a top surface 30 a anda side surface 30 c disposed between the side surface 20 c of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and the bottom surface 40 b of thetransparent material layer 40 so as to extend from the side surface 20 cof the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 toward the bottom surface 40b of the transparent material layer 40, and therefore including asurrounding portion 31, which surround the side surface 20 c of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20 with the wavelength convertinglayer 30; a frame 50 located along an outer circumference of themounting surface 10 a of the substrate 10 so as to surround thewavelength converting layer 30 and the transparent material layer 40;and a reflective material layer 60 made of a material having a highreflectivity, disposed between the frame 50 and the side surfaces 30 cand 40 c of the wavelength converting layer 30 and the transparentmaterial layer 40 and disposed between the bottom surface 20 of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and the mounting surface 10 a ofthe substrate 10 so as to fill a space between the solder bumps 12.

Here, the above-described elements of the semiconductor light-emittingdevice 100 will now be described. The substrate 10 can composed of aceramic such as an Aluminum nitride (AlN) having a high thermalconductivity and the like, and the conductor patterns 10 b can be madefrom Au (gold) and the like and formed on the mounting surface 10 a ofthe substrate 10 to mount the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 andto receive a power supply for the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20.

The frame 50 can be formed from the same material as the substrate 10,such as with aluminum nitride having a high thermal conductivity,ceramics, and the like, and can also be integrated into the substrate 10as a one-body structure. The frame 50 can be attached on the outercircumference of the mounting surface 10 a of the substrate 10 via anadhesive material and the like so as to surround the transparentmaterial layer 40 and the wavelength converting layer 30, which islocated between the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and thetransparent material layer 40. The frame 50 can operate as a casing todispose the reflective material layer 60, although the frame 50 may beremoved from the substrate 10 by forming the reflective material layer60 using a molding tool, etc.

The semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 can be mounted on the conductorpatterns 10 b of the mounting surface 10 a of the substrate 10 with aflip-chip structure, which emits light from the top surface 20 a and theside surface 20 c. For example, when the semiconductor light-emitting 20has a plurality of electrodes that are coplanar with the bottom surface20 b thereof, each of the electrodes of the light-emitting chip 20 canbe electrically connected to a respective one of the conductor patterns10 b of the mounting surface 10 a of the substrate 10 via a respectiveone of the solder bumps 70 so as to be able to provide the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20 with a power supply.

The semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 can be blue LED chips having apeak wavelength of approximately 460 nanometers, and also be a laserdiode emitting blue light. The semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 canbe an LED of InGaN series, which emits near-ultraviolet light having awavelength of approximately 380 nanometers, and also can be a laserdiode that emits ultraviolet light.

The wavelength converting layer 30 can include a phosphor to convertlight emitted from the semiconductor light chip 20 into a particularwavelength or range of wavelengths of light. Accordingly, because thephosphor can be excited by the light emitted from the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20, and can emit a wavelength-converted light, thesemiconductor light-emitting device 100 can emit a mixture light havinga different wavelength from that of the semiconductor light-emittingchip 20 by an additive color mixture of a part of the light emitted fromthe semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and the wavelength-convertedlight excited by another part of the light.

The wavelength converting layer 30 can include a resin layer that ismade by mixing at least one phosphor with a transparent resin such as asilicone resin, en epoxy resin, an inorganic binder and the like and bysolidifying said mixture resin including the phosphor. The wavelengthconverting layer 30 can cover the top surface 20, the side surface 20 cand a part of the bottom surface 20 b of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20. The wavelength converting layer 30 can include aspacer such as a glass particle, a resin particle and the like to formthe wavelength converting layer 30 having a substantially uniformthickness between the top surface 20 a of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20 and the bottom surface 40 b of the transparentmaterial layer 40, which is disclosed in Patent Document No. 4 by theinventor of this disclosed subject matter and the like.

When the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 is a blue LED chipemitting blue light, and when the phosphor is a yellow phosphor emittinga yellow light upon being excited by the blue light emitted from theblue LED chip, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 can emitsubstantially white light by an additive color mixture of the excitedyellow light emitted from the yellow phosphor and a part of the bluelight emitted from the blue LED chip. The yellow phosphor can include,Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ (YAG), Ca_(x) (Si, Al)₁₂ (O, N)₁₆:Eu²⁺ (SiAlON seriesphosphors), etc.

In place of the yellow phosphor, a red phosphor wavelength-convertingthe blue light emitted from the blue LED chip into red-purple light, anda green phosphor wavelength-converting the blue light into blue-greenlight can also be used. In this case, the semiconductor light-emittingdevice 100 can also emit light having a substantially white color toneby an additive color mixture of the red-purple light emitted from thered phosphor that is excited by the blue light, the blue-green lightemitted from the green phosphor that is excited by the blue light and apart of the blue light. The red phosphor can include CaAlSiN₃:Eu²⁺,Ca₂Si₅N₈:Eu²⁺, La₂O₂S:Eu³⁺, KSiF₆:Mn⁴⁺, KTiF₆:Mn⁴⁺ and the like. Y₃(Ga,Al)₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺, Ca₃Sc₂Si₃O₁₂:Ce³⁺, CaSc₂O₄:Eu²⁺, (Ba, Sr)₂SiO₄:Eu²⁺,Ba₃Si₆O₁₂N₂:Eu²⁺, (Si, Al)₆ (O, N):Eu²⁺ and the like can be used as thegreen phosphor.

When the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 is the laser diodeemitting the ultraviolet light, the at least one phosphor can include: ared phosphor wavelength-converting the ultraviolet light into red light;a green phosphor wavelength-converting the ultraviolet light into greenlight; and a blue phosphor wavelength-converting the ultraviolet lightinto blue light so that the semiconductor light-emitting device 100emits substantially white light.

As the red phosphor, CaAlSiN₃:Eu²⁺, Ca₂Si₅N₈:Eu²⁺, La₂O₂S:Eu³⁺,KSiF₆:Mn⁴⁺, KTiF₆:Mn⁴⁺ and the like can be used. (Si, Al)₆ (O, N):Eu²⁺,BaMgAl₁₀O₁₇:Eu²⁺ Mn²⁺, (Ba, Sr)₂SiO₄:Eu²⁺ and the like can be used asthe green phosphor. (Sr, Ca, Ba, Mg)₁₀(PO₄)₆C₁₂:Eu²⁺, BaMgAl₁₀O₁₇:Eu²⁺,LaAl (Si, Al)₆ (N, O)₁₀:Ce³⁺ and the like can be used as the bluephosphor. Additionally, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 canemit various colored lights by adjusting a ratio of the red phosphor,the green phosphor and the blue phosphor by the additive color mixtureof the excited colored lights.

The wavelength converting layer 30 can be formed by disposed an uncuredwavelength converting material on the top surface 20 a of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and by solidifying the uncuredwavelength converting material after mounting the transparent materiallayer 40 on the uncured wavelength converting material. An amount of thephosphor, which is contained in the wavelength converting layer 30, canbe appropriately determined in view of a thickness, a viscosity and thelike of the wavelength converting layer 30 based upon a kind, a usageand the like of light-emitting device.

The bottom surface 40 b of the transparent material layer 40 can beslightly larger than the top surface 20 a of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20, and the transparent material layer 40 can belocated over the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 so that the bottomsurface 40 b of the transparent material layer 40 can cover the topsurface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20. In otherwords, an outermost periphery of the semiconductor light-emitting chip20 will be completely blocked from view by the transparent materiallayer 40 when the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 is viewed froma position on the main optical axis which extends normal to the topsurface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20.

The wavelength converting layer 30 can include the surrounding portion31, which surround the side surface 20 c of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20 with the wavelength converting layer 30 asdescribed above. When the wavelength converting layer 30 is formed bysolidifying the uncured wavelength converting material, a larger amountof an uncured wavelength converting material than an amount of theuncured wavelength converting material, which corresponds to a productof an area of the top surface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emittingchip 20 and a thickness of the uncured wavelength converting materialdisposed between the top surface 20 a of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20 and the bottom surface 40 b of the transparentmaterial layer 40, can be disposed on the top surface 20 a of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20.

In this case, a surrounding portion of the uncured wavelength convertingmaterial can be formed in the uncured wavelength converting material bymounting the transparent material layer 40 on the uncured wavelengthconverting material and by covering the side surface 20 c of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20 with a surplus of the uncuredwavelength converting material, which overflows from the top surface 20a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20. The surround portion 31can be formed in the wavelength converting layer 30 by solidifying thewhole uncured wavelength converting material under a prescribedtemperature.

In the above-described manufacturing process, the surrounding portion 31having various inclined angles can be formed in the wavelengthconverting layer 30 by adjusting the surplus of the uncured wavelengthconverting. The inclined angle of the surrounding portion 31 can beformed in 30 degrees to 80 degrees with respect to the normal directionof the top surface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20,which is a same direction as the extending direction of the main opticalaxis of the semiconductor light-emitting device 100. The inclined angleof the surrounding portion 31 can be preferably formed in 30 degrees to60 degrees with respect to the normal direction of the top surface 20 aof the light-emitting chip 20.

The thickness of the wavelength converting layer 30 between the topsurface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and the bottomsurface 40 b of the transparent material layer 40 cannot be limitedbecause the thickness of the wavelength converting layer 30 may vary inaccordance with a thickness of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20,the amount of the phosphor contained in the wavelength converting layer30, etc. The thickness of the wavelength converting layer 30 can beformed within a range of 20 micrometers to 100 micrometers in general.For exemplary, when an LED chip having a thickness of 100 micrometers isused as the light-emitting chip 20, the thickness of the wavelengthconverting layer 30 may be approximately 20 micrometers to 60micrometers.

The transparent material layer 40 can be formed in a tabular shapehaving the top surface 2 a, which can be used as a light-emittingsurface for the semiconductor light-emitting device 100, and thereforecan be composed of a transparent material, which can emit theabove-described mixture light. Specifically, as the transparentmaterial, a transparent resin having a high thermal resistance such as asilicone resin, an epoxy resin and the like, and a glass having a highthermal resistance can be used.

The transparent material layer 40 can be configured with the transparentmaterial having a same or similar refraction index (e.g., approximatelyfrom 1.4 to 1.8) as that of the wavelength converting layer 30. Thereby,a total reflection, which may occur on a boundary between the bottomsurface 40 b of the transparent material layer 40 and the wavelengthconverting layer 30, can be avoided. The transparent material layer 40can be formed of one layer and also can be formed of a plurality oflayers.

When the transparent material layer 40 is formed of the plurality oflayers, for example, one of the layers can be formed of asemi-transparent layer so as to be able to transmit a light-emittingwavelength of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and anotherlight-emitting wavelength converted by the wavelength converting layer30 by mixing a filler such as a wavelength converting material, alight-diffusing material, a light-scattering material and the like withthe above-described transparent resin and an inorganic material such asa glass, etc.

In addition, the transparent material layer 40 can include at least oneof an optical shape and a surface treatment on at least one of the topsurface 40 a and the bottom surface 40 b. More specifically, althougheach of the top surface 40 a and the bottom surface 40 b is formed in aplanar shape in FIG. 1, on at least one of the top surface 40 a and thebottom surface 40 b of the transparent material layer 40, an opticallens can be formed, and also a light-diffusing treatment such as aconcave-convex shape and a light-emitting treatment such as aconcave-convex lens, a diamond shape and the like can be formed.However, each area of the top surface 40 a and the bottom surface 40 bto be hereinafter described means an area in the case where is formed ina planar shape as shown in FIG. 1.

The transparent material layer 40 can include the side surface 40 c,which is formed in an inclined shape so as to expand from the topsurface 40 a toward the bottom surface 40 b of the transparent materiallayer 40, because the area of the top surface 40 a is smaller than thatof the bottom surface 40 b, which contacts with the top surface 30 a ofthe wavelength converting layer 30. Accordingly, the transparentmaterial layer 40 can be formed in a substantially quadrangulartruncated cone such that removes a top portion from the quadrangularpyramid in parallel with the bottom surface 40 b.

Each size of elements of the transparent material layer 40 will now bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 3. A thickness t₄₀ betweenthe top surface 40 a and the bottom surface 40 b of the transparentmaterial layer 40 can be from 0.05 times to less than one time athickness t₂₀ between the top surface 20 a and the bottom surface 20 bof the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20, and a maximum thickness t₄₀of the transparent material layer 40 can be 1 millimeter or less. Forexample, when an LED chip having the thickness t₂₀ of 100 micrometers isused as the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20, the thickness t₄₀ ofthe transparent material layer 40 can be approximately 50 micrometers to300 micrometers.

The bottom surface 40 b of the transparent material layer 40 may be asubstantially same area as that of the top surface 30 a of thewavelength converting layer 30 because the transparent layer 40 ismounted on the uncured wavelength converting material and because thewavelength converting layer is formed by solidifying the uncuredwavelength converting material under the prescribed temperature, asdescribed above.

With respect to the surrounding portion 31 of the wavelength convertinglayer 30, a width D₃₁ of a top surface can be more than zero, and can befour or less times the thickness t₂₀ of the semiconductor light-emittingchip 20. Accordingly, a width D₄₀ of a projecting part of thetransparent material layer 40 from the side surface 20 c of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20 can be approximately zero to fourtimes the thickness t₂₀ of the side surface 20 c of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20. When the LED chip having a thickness of 100micrometers is used as the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20, thewidth D₄₀ of the projecting part of the transparent material layer 40from the side surface 20 c of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20can be approximately zero to 400 micrometers.

Provided the inclined angle θ₃₁ of the surrounding portion 31 is 45degrees, when the inclined angle θ₃₁ is approximated by a triangle, thewidth D₄₀ of the projecting part of the transparent material layer 40can add the thickness t₂₀ of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 tothe thickness t₃₀ of the wavelength converting layer 30 between the topsurface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and the bottomsurface 40 b of the transparent material layer 40.

An area of the top surface 40 a of the transparent material layer 40 canbe determined by the thickness t₄₀ of the transparent material 40 and aninclined angle θ₄₀ of the side surface 40 c. Although the thickness t₄₀of the transparent material 40 is described above, the inclined angleθ₄₀ of the side surface 40 c can be 30 degrees to 85 degrees withrespect to the bottom surface 40 b of the transparent material layer 40in substantially parallel with the top surface 20 a of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20. Thereby, most of light entering from thesurrounding portion 31 into the transparent material layer 40 can bemixed with a direct light emitted from the top surface 2 a of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and another lightwavelength-converted in the wavelength converting layer 30, while acertain amount of the light entering into the transparent material layer40 can be reflected on a boundary between the side surface 40 c of thetransparent material layer 40 and the reflective material layer 60.

Therefore, among lights emitted from the top surface 40 a of thetransparent material layer 40, which is used as a light-emitting surfaceof the device 100, light expanding in an outward direction of thesemiconductor light-emitting device 100 can reduce, and focused lightcan be emitted from the light-emitting surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting device 100. In addition, among lights entering from thewavelength converting layer 30 into the transparent material layer 40 byforming the inclined angle θ₄₀ of the side surface 40 c at 30 degrees to85 degrees with respect to the bottom surface 40 b of the transparentmaterial layer 40, after the certain amount of the light emitted fromthe surrounding portion 31 can be reflected on the boundary between theside surface 40 c of the transparent material layer 40 and thereflective material layer 60, an amount of the light can be directed ina middle direction of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20.

A part of said light, which is directed in the middle direction of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20, may be reflected on the boundarybetween the transparent material layer 40 and the wavelength convertinglayer 30. Another part of the light may be reflected by the phosphor andthe like contained in the wavelength converting layer 30 and by aboundary between the wavelength converting layer 30 and thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20. After that, the above reflectedlights can be mixed with a mixture light emitted from the wavelengthconverting layer 30, and can be emitted from the top surface 40 a of thetransparent material layer 40 along with the mixture light describedabove. Therefore, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 can emitthe mixture light having a high light-emitting intensity and a highefficiency from the light-emitting surface thereof while promotingeffective use of the light emitted from the side surface 20 c of thesemiconductor light-emitting chip 20.

The reflective material layer 60 can be made by dispersing alight-reflecting filler such as titanium oxide, zinc oxide, alumina andthe like into a transparent resin such as a silicone resin. An amount ofthe light-reflecting filler contained in the reflective material layer60 can be 20 weight percents to 90 weight percent with respect to thetransparent resin so that the reflective material layer 60 can keep aprescribed reflectivity and diffusivity and an uncured reflectivematerial can be easily disposed between the frame 50 and both sidesurfaces 30 c and 40 c of the wavelength converting layer 30 and thetransparent material layer 40 so as to fill a apace between the bottomsurface 20 b of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and themounting surface 10 a of the substrate 10.

A top surface 60 a of the reflective material layer 60 can be formedbetween an end of the top surface 40 a of the transparent material layer40 and an inner end of a top surface of the frame 50. Consequently, thesemiconductor light-emitting device 100 can be constructed so that thetop surface 40 a of the transparent material layer 40 can become thelight-emitting surface, which is slightly larger than the top surface 20a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG.3.

Methods for manufacturing the semiconductor light-emitting device 100can be a substantially same as methods disclosed in Patent Document No.4, and therefore will now be described simply. When the spacer is notused in the wavelength converting layer 30, a manufacturing process fordisposing the space in the uncured wavelength converting material, whichis disclosed in Patent Document No. 4, can be abbreviated.

As methods for forming the inclined side surface 40 c of the transparentmaterial layer 40, when the transparent material layer 40 is formed by adie cutting method, a transparent material plate can be cut to form thetransparent material layer 40 by using a V-shaped cutting blade having apredetermined angle, and also can be cut by a cutting blade whilevarying a die cutting angle at a predetermined angle.

In a process for forming the reflective material layer 60, thereflective material layer 60 can also be formed so that the top surface40 a of the transparent material layer 40 becomes higher than the topsurface of the frame 50 with reference to the mounting surface 10 a ofthe substrate 10 as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, the uncuredreflective material can be disposed between the frame 50 and both sidesurfaces 30 c and 40 c of the wavelength converting layer 30 and thetransparent material layer 40 so as to fill the space between the bottomsurface 20 b of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and themounting surface 10 a of the substrate 10 using a surface tensionthereof, and the reflective material layer 60 can be formed bysolidifying the uncured reflective material under a prescribedtemperature.

According to the semiconductor light-emitting device having theabove-described structure, the transparent material layer 40 having theinclined side surface 40 c in an inward direction thereof can bedisposed on the wavelength converting layer 30 including the surroundingportion 31, which covers the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20including the side surface 20 c, and also the reflective material layer60 can be disposed between the frame 50 and the both side surfaces 30 cand 40 c of the wavelength converting layer 30 and the transparentmaterial layer 40 so as to fill the space between the bottom surface 20b of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 and the mounting surface10 a of the substrate 10.

Thereby, the most of light entering from the surrounding portion 31 intothe transparent material layer 40 can be mixed with the direct lightemitted from the top surface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emittingchip 20 and the other light wavelength-converted in the wavelengthconverting layer 30, while the certain amount of the light entering intothe transparent material layer 40 can be reflected on the boundarybetween the side surface 40 c of the transparent material layer 40 andthe reflective material layer 60. Accordingly, the semiconductorlight-emitting device 100 can reduce the light expanding in the outwarddirection thereof, and can emit the focused light from the top surface40 a of the transparent material layer 40 while reducing a colorvariability, which may be caused among lights emitted from a portionover the surrounding portion 31 of the wavelength converting layer 30.

In addition, after the certain amount of the light emitted from thesurrounding portion 31 can be reflected on the boundary between the sidesurface 40 c of the transparent material layer 40 and the reflectivematerial layer 60, the above reflected lights can be mixed with themixture light emitted from the wavelength converting layer 30, and canbe emitted from the top surface 40 a of the transparent material layer40 along with the mixture light described above. Thus, the semiconductorlight-emitting device 100 can emit various colored lights having a highlight-emitting intensity and a substantially uniform color tone from thesmall light-emitting surface thereof while effectively using the lightemitted from the side surface 20 c of the semiconductor light-emittingchip 20 with high efficiency.

Next, other exemplary embodiments of the transparent material layer 40in regard to the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 will now bedescribed with reference to FIG. 5 to FIG. 8. In these cases, becausethe above-described structure other than the transparent material layer40 may be substantially same as the semiconductor light-emitting device100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the exemplary embodiments of the transparentlayer 40, associated features and the like will be described.

A second embodiment of the transparent material layer 40 can be formedin an inclined shape on a part of the side surface 40 c of thetransparent material layer 40. The semiconductor light-emitting device200 can include a transparent material layer 240 having a first sidesurface 241A and a second side surface 241B, which extends in adirection substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface 40 b fromthe bottom surface 40 b of the transparent material layer 240 as shownin FIG. 5. The first side surface 241A can be connected between the topsurface 240 a and the second side surface 240B, and can incline in aninward direction of the transparent material layer 240 from the secondside surface 241B at a prescribed angle. A ratio of heights of the firstside surface 241A and the second side surface 241B in a directionperpendicular to the bottom surface 40 b can be approximately 4:1 to1:4.

An inclined angle of the first side surface 241A can be less than 90degrees with respect to the bottom surface 40 b of the transparentmaterial layer 240, and can reduce until the top surface 240 a of thetransparent material layer 240, which is formed in a substantiallyplanar shape, overlaps the top surface 20 a of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20 so as to become a substantially same area as thetop surface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20. Thereby,the top surface 240 a, which is a light-emitting surface of the device200, can be easily smaller than the top surface 40 a of thesemiconductor light-emitting surface 100 shown in FIG. 1, so that an endof the bottom surface 40 b of the transparent material layer 240 doesnot break in a manufacturing process of the transparent material layer240.

A third embodiment of the transparent material layer 40 of thesemiconductor light-emitting device 100 can be formed in a concave shapeon at least the part of the side surface 40 c of the transparentmaterial layer 40. The semiconductor light-emitting device 300 caninclude a transparent material layer 340 having a top surface 340 a anda side surface 340 c, which is formed in a concave shape in a directiontoward the top surface 340 a, which becomes a light-emitting surface ofthe semiconductor light-emitting device 300 as shown in FIG. 6.

A fourth embodiment of the transparent material layer 40 of thesemiconductor light-emitting device 100 can be formed in a convex shapeon at least the part of the side surface 40 c of the transparentmaterial layer 40. The semiconductor light-emitting device 400 caninclude a transparent material layer 440 having a top surface 440 a anda side surface 440 c, which is formed in a convex shape in an oppositedirection of the top surface 440 a, which is a light-emitting surface ofthe semiconductor light-emitting device 400 as shown in FIG. 7.

A fifth embodiment of the transparent material layer 40 can be formed inan inclined shape on the part of the side surface 40 c of thetransparent material layer 40 in common with the second embodiment. Thesemiconductor light-emitting device 500 can include a transparentmaterial layer 540 having a first side surface 541A and a second sidesurface 541B, which extends in a direction substantially perpendicularto the bottom surface 40 b from the bottom surface 40 b of thetransparent material layer 540 as shown in FIG. 8.

The first side surface 541A can be connected between the bottom surface40 b and the second side surface 541B, and can incline in an inwarddirection of the transparent material layer 540 from the bottom surface40 b at a prescribed angle. A ratio of heights of the first side surface541A and the second side surface 541B in a direction perpendicular tothe bottom surface 40 b can be approximately 1:4 to 4:1. The inclinedangle of the first side surface 541A can be 30 degrees to 85 degreeswith respect to the bottom surface 40 b of the transparent materiallayer 540 in substantially parallel with a top surface 540 a, whichbecomes a light-emitting surface of the semiconductor light-emittingdevice 500.

In the above-described third, fourth and fifth embodiments, each ofmixture lights emitted from the surrounding portions 31 of thewavelength converting layers 30 can be directed in an inner direction oflight-emitting devices 300, 400 and 500 because each of the top surfaces340 a, 440 a and 540 a can be smaller than the bottom surfaces 40 b ofthe transparent material layers 340, 440 and 540, respectively. Thus,each of the semiconductor light-emitting devices 300, 400 and 500 canemit various colored lights having a high light-emitting intensity and asubstantially uniform color tone from each of the small light-emittingsurfaces thereof while effectively using the light emitted from the sidesurface 20 c of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20 with highefficiency, respectively.

As methods for forming each of the side surfaces of the transparentmaterial layers 240, 340, 440 and 540 in the above-describedembodiments, when each of the transparent material layers is formed by adie cutting method, a transparent material plate can be cut to form eachof the transparent material layers by using a cutting blade having apredetermined angle, a cutting blade having a round shape, etc. Each ofthe transparent material layers 240, 340, 440 and 540 can also be madeby two die cutting processes, for example, a first process to form aninclined surface and a second process to form a normal surface.Additionally, each of the transparent material layers 240, 340, 440 and540 can also be made by laminating a plurality of transparent materialplates each having a different shape of a side surface.

Second exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference toFIG. 9 to FIG. 12, in which same or similar elements as the firstembodiment use same marks. The second embodiments can include aplurality of semiconductor light-emitting chips to emit various colorlights having a higher light-emitting intensity than the firstembodiment. FIG. 9 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view showing asecond exemplary embodiment of a semiconductor light-emitting devicemade in accordance with principles of the disclosed subject matter.

The semiconductor light-emitting device 600 can include: the substrate10; semiconductor light-emitting chips 20 each having a first sidesurface 20 c and a second side surface 20 e facing with respect to eachother, mounted on a chip board 20 f, and mounted on the mounting surface10 a of the substrate 10 via the solder bumps 70 along the chip board 20f; and a transparent material layer 640 having a top surface 640 a, abottom surface 640 b and a side surface 640 c located over the topsurfaces 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20, and thebottom surface 640 b thereof being slightly larger than the top surfaces20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20.

In addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 600 can alsoinclude: the wavelength converting layer 30 disposed between the firstside surfaces 20 c and the second side surfaces 20 e of thesemiconductor light-emitting chips 20 and the bottom surface 640 b ofthe transparent material layer 640 so as to extend from each of thefirst side surfaces 20 c of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20toward the bottom surface 640 b of the transparent material layer 640,and therefore including the surrounding portion 31, which surrounds thefirst side surfaces 20 c of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20with the wavelength converting layer 30; the frame 50 located along theouter circumference of the mounting surface 10 a of the substrate 10;and the reflective material layer 60 disposed between the frame 50 andthe side surfaces 30 c and 640 c of the wavelength converting layer 30and the transparent material layer 640 and disposed between at least oneof the chip board 20 f and the bottom surfaces 20 b of the semiconductorlight-emitting chips 20 and the mounting surface 10 a of the substrate10 so as to fill the space between the solder bumps 12.

Methods for manufacturing the semiconductor light-emitting device 600can also be a substantially same as methods disclosed in Patent DocumentNo. 4, and therefore will now be described simply. When the spacer isnot used in the wavelength converting layer 30, a manufacturing processfor disposing the space in the uncured wavelength converting material,which is disclosed in Patent Document No. 4, can be abbreviated. In amanufacturing process for forming the wavelength converting layer 30,the uncured wavelength converting material can be disposed on each ofthe top surfaces 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20, andthe transparent material layer 640 can be mounted on the uncuredwavelength converting material.

Then, the wavelength converting layer 30 including the surroundingportion 31 can be formed by solidifying the uncured wavelengthconverting material as shown in FIG. 9. In this case, the wavelengthconverting layer 30 can also be disposed in a spaced portion 32 betweenthe adjacent second side surfaces 20 e. An amount of the wavelengthconverting layer 30, which is disposed in the spaced portion 32, can bedetermined by adjusting the uncured wavelength converting material so asto reduce a color variation of light emitted from the top surface 640 aof the transparent material layer 640.

FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c are enlarged top views showing a first exemplaryvariation, a second exemplary variation and a third exemplary variationof the second embodiment of the semiconductor light-emitting deviceshown in FIG. 9, respectively. The semiconductor light-emitting device650 of the first variation can include a plurality of semiconductorlight-emitting chips 20, which aligns in a substantially straight line,and a transparent material layer 650 located over the top surfaces 20 aof the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20 so that a bottom surface ofthe transparent material layer 650 becomes slightly larger than the topsurfaces 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20 as shown inFIG. 10 a.

The semiconductor light-emitting device 700 of the second variation caninclude a plurality of semiconductor light-emitting chips 20, which islocated in a two-dimensional matrix, and a transparent material layer740 located over the top surfaces 20 a of the semiconductorlight-emitting chips 20 so that a bottom surface of the transparentmaterial layer 740 becomes slightly larger than the top surfaces 20 a ofthe semiconductor light-emitting chips 20 as shown in FIG. 10 b.

The semiconductor light-emitting device 710 of the third variation caninclude a plurality of semiconductor light-emitting chips 20 composed ofa first location and a second location, which align in a straight lineand have a different phase with respect to each other, and which arealternately located in a direction substantially perpendicular to eachof longitudinal directions of the first location and the second locationof the light-emitting chips 20, and the transparent material layer 740located over the top surfaces 20 a of the semiconductor light-emittingchips 20 so that a bottom surface of the transparent material layer 740becomes slightly larger than the top surfaces 20 a of the semiconductorlight-emitting chips 20 as shown in FIG. 10 c.

In the above-described second embodiments, each of the transparentmaterial layers 640, 645 and 740 can be replaced with each of the first,second, third, fourth and fifth embodiments of the transparent materiallayers as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8, respectively. Each ofintervals between the adjacent chips in the semiconductor light-emittingchips 20 cannot be limited because each of the intervals varies inaccordance with a chip size, but each of the intervals can beapproximately 50 micrometers to 400 micrometers in general.

In the above-described various combinational embodiments, each ofmixture lights emitted from the surrounding portions 31 of thewavelength converting layers 30 can be directed in an inner direction oflight-emitting devices 600, 650, 700 and 710, because each of the topsurfaces 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20 can besmaller than each of the bottom surfaces of the transparent materiallayers in the light-emitting devices, respectively. Thus, each of thesemiconductor light-emitting devices 600, 650, 700 and 710 can also emitvarious colored lights having a very high light-emitting intensity and asubstantially uniform color tone from each of the light-emittingsurfaces thereof while effectively using each of lights emitted from theside surfaces 20 c of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20 withhigh efficiency, respectively.

In addition, the semiconductor light-emitting devices of the secondembodiments may cause a color variation due to each interval of theadjacent chips as compared with the first embodiments. Accordingly, onat least a part of at least one of the top surface and the bottomsurface of the transparent material layer, a surface treatment such as afine convex-concave shape can be formed to reduce the color variation.

In the above-described embodiments of the transparent material layer,cases where each of the side surfaces of the transparent material layersis provided with various inclined shapes, are described. Each of thewhole side surfaces of the transparent material layers cannot benecessarily provided with at least one of the inclined surfaces, buteach of parts of the side surfaces can be provided with at least one ofthe inclined surfaces. FIG. 11 is an enlarged top view showing anexemplary common variation of the semiconductor light-emitting devicesof the second embodiment and the first embodiment shown in FIG. 9 andFIG. 1, and FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines AC andCB of the semiconductor light-emitting device shown in FIG. 11.

The semiconductor light-emitting device 800 can include a transparentmaterial layer 840 having a first side surface 841A and a second sidesurface 841B, which is located over the top surface 20 a of thesemiconductor light-emitting chips 20. The semiconductor light-emittingchips 20, which align in a straight line, can be covered with thewavelength converting layer 30 including the surrounding portion 31described above, and the transparent material layer 840 can be mountedon the wavelength converting layer 30. Accordingly, the transparentmaterial layer 840 can be formed in a slender shape along thesemiconductor light-emitting chips 20.

The first side surface 841A can extend in a locating direction of thesemiconductor light-emitting chips 20 and can include two surfaces inparallel with each other. The second side surface 841B including twosurfaces can extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to thefirst side surface 841A as shown in FIG. 11. One of the two surfaces ofthe first side surface 841A of the transparent material layer 840 canincline in a direction toward the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20from a bottom surface 840 b toward a top surface 840 a of thetransparent material layer 840, and the second side surface 841B canextend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface840 b so as to connect between the top surface 840 a and the bottomsurface 840 b, as shown in FIG. 12.

Accordingly, an area of the top surface 840 a, which is a light-emittingsurface of the device 800, can be smaller than that of the bottomsurface 840 b of the transparent material layer 840. Each of the firstside surface 841A and the second side surface 841B can be formed in asubstantially planar shape, and also can be formed in a convex shape, aconcave shape and the like as shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 8.

The semiconductor light-emitting device 800 including the semiconductorlight-emitting chips 20, which align in a straight line, can be widelyused as a light source for a vehicle headlight, for example, which isdisclosed in Patent Document No. 5 and No. 6. In these cases, when clearcut-off characteristics are required in a vertical direction withreference to a road, the second side surface 841B, which issubstantially perpendicular to the locating direction of thesemiconductor light-emitting chips 20 can be useful to form the clearcut-off characteristics in the vertical direction with reference to aroad.

As described above, the disclosed subject matter can form alight-emitting surface in a small shape such that is slightly largerthan the top surface 20 a of the semiconductor light-emitting chip 20via the wavelength converting layer 30 including the surrounding portion31, which can surround the side surface 20 c of the semiconductorlight-emitting chip 20, and can improve a light-emitting efficiency anda color variation by using the surrounding portion 31 including the sideslant surface 30 c contacting with the reflective material layer 60 as areflector for the light-emitting chip 20. In addition, even when aplurality of light-emitting chips 20 is mounted on the mounting surface10 a of the substrate 10, the light-emitting device can improve alight-emitting efficiency by efficiently using the light emitted fromthe side surface 20 c of the semiconductor light-emitting chips 20, andtherefore can various colored lights having a very high light-emittingintensity. Thus, the disclosed subject matter can provide asemiconductor light-emitting device having a high light-emittingefficiency and a small light-emitting surface, which can be used forlighting units such as a vehicle headlight that controls light emittedfrom the light-emitting device using a reflector and/or a projectorlens.

Moreover, the light-emitting surface (the top surface 40 a) of thetransparent material layer 40 can reduce from the bottom surface 40 btoward the top surface 40 a of the transparent material layer 40 byinclining the side surface 40 c of the transparent material layer 40,which can contact with the reflective material layer 60. Thus, themethod of the disclosed subject matter can provide a semiconductorlight-emitting device, which can easily various light distributions byforming the side surface 40 c of the transparent material layer 40 invarious shapes, for example, a focused light from the smalllight-emitting surface, light having a clear cut-off line for aheadlight, etc.

Furthermore, the above-described embodiments are mainly described as alight source device for a vehicle headlight. However, the semiconductorlight-emitting device can incorporate various colored lights bycombining the above-described semiconductor chip 20 with the wavelengthconverting layer 30 including at least one phosphor, and therefore canalso be used as a light source device for various applications such asgeneral lighting, a street light, stage lighting, traffic lights and thelike using a small and simple optical member. In addition, it isconceived that each of the different aspects and features of thedifferent embodiments disclosed herein could be used interchangeably inand with the other disclosed embodiments. For example, the multiple chipembodiment could include the surrounding portion 31 including the sidesurface 30 c that are concave. In addition, it is contemplated that anydifferent color chip or different wavelength material can be used in anyof the disclosed embodiments and in any combination.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the presently disclosedsubject matter without departing from the spirit or scope of thepresently disclosed subject matter. Thus, it is intended that thepresently disclosed subject matter cover the modifications andvariations of the presently disclosed subject matter provided they comewithin the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. Allrelated art references described above are hereby incorporated in theirentirety by reference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor light-emitting device comprising:a substrate having a mounting surface and conductor patterns formed onthe mounting surface; a plurality of semiconductor light-emitting chipseach having a bottom surface and at least one bottom chip electrodelocated on the bottom surface, including a top surface and a sidesurface, and mounted on the mounting surface of the substrate via solderbumps, and the bottom chip electrode electrically connected to at leastone of the conductor patterns of the substrate via at least one of thesolder bumps, wherein the plurality of semiconductor light-emittingchips aligns in a substantially straight line or is located in a matrixarray, and each of intervals between adjacent chips of the semiconductorlight-emitting chips is 400 micrometers or less; a transparent materiallayer having a top surface, a bottom surface and a side surface beinglocated over the top surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chips,the bottom surface of the transparent material layer being larger thanthe top surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chips, the topsurface of the transparent material layer being smaller than the bottomsurface of the transparent material layer, and the side surface of thetransparent material layer includes at least one portion inclining fromthe bottom surface toward the top surface of the transparent materiallayer so as to approach toward at least another portion of the sidesurface located opposite the at least one portion of the side surface ofthe transparent material layer; a wavelength converting layer having atop surface and a side surface disposed between the bottom surface ofthe transparent material layer and the side surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chips, contacting with the bottom surface of thetransparent material layer and the side surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chips, and therefore including a surrounding portion tosurround the side surface of the semiconductor light-emitting chips withthe wavelength converting layer, and the side surface of the wavelengthconverting layer extending from the side surface of the semiconductorlight-emitting chips toward the bottom surface of the transparentmaterial layer; a frame located adjacent the mounting surface of thesubstrate, and surrounding the wavelength converting layer and thetransparent material layer; and a reflective material layer having a topsurface disposed between the frame and the side surfaces of thewavelength converting layer and the transparent material layer andbetween each of the bottom surfaces of the semiconductor light-emittingchips and the mounting surface of the substrate while surrounding thesolder bumps, wherein an area of the top surface of the transparentmaterial layer is smaller than that of the top surface of the wavelengthconverting layer, and each of angles between the bottom surface and theat least one portion of the side surface of the transparent materiallayer, between the bottom surface of the transparent material layer andthe side surface of the wavelength converting layer and between the sidesurface of the wavelength converting layer and the side surface of thesemiconductor light-emitting chips is smaller than a right angle.
 2. Thesemiconductor light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein theside surface of the transparent material layer is formed in asubstantially inclined planar shape from the bottom surface of thetransparent material layer toward the top surface of the transparentmaterial layer, and thereby the area of the top surface of thetransparent material layer becomes smaller than that of the top surfaceof the wavelength converting layer.
 3. The semiconductor light-emittingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the top surface of the reflectivematerial layer becomes higher from the frame toward the transparentmaterial layer with reference to the mounting surface of the substrate.4. The semiconductor light-emitting device according to claim 1, whereinthe side surface of the transparent material layer includes a first sidesurface and a second side surface extending in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the bottom surface of the transparent material layerfrom the bottom surface of the transparent material layer, the firstside surface connects between the second side surface and the topsurface of the transparent material layer, and inclines from the secondside surface toward the top surface of the transparent material layer,and thereby the area of the top surface of the transparent materiallayer becomes smaller than that of the top surface of the wavelengthconverting layer.
 5. The semiconductor light-emitting device accordingto claim 1, wherein the side surface of the transparent material layeris formed in a concave shape toward the semiconductor light-emittingchips, and thereby the area of the top surface of the transparentmaterial layer becomes smaller than that of the top surface of thewavelength converting layer.
 6. The semiconductor light-emitting deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the side surface of the transparentmaterial layer is formed in a convex shape toward the reflectivematerial layer, and thereby the area of the top surface of thetransparent material layer becomes smaller than that of the top surfaceof the wavelength converting layer.
 7. The semiconductor light-emittingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the side surface of the transparentmaterial layer includes a first side surface and a second side surfaceextending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottomsurface of the transparent material layer from the top surface of thetransparent material layer, the first side surface connects between thesecond side surface and the bottom surface of the transparent materiallayer, and inclines from the bottom surface of the transparent materiallayer toward the second side surface, and thereby the area of the topsurface of the transparent material layer becomes smaller than that ofthe top surface of the wavelength converting layer.
 8. The semiconductorlight-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the side surface ofthe transparent material layer is composed of a first side surface and asecond side surface extending in a direction substantially perpendicularto the bottom surface of the transparent material layer from the topsurface of the transparent material layer to the bottom surface of thetransparent material layer, the first side surface connects the secondside surface on the side surface of the transparent material layer, andinclines from the bottom surface of the transparent material layer tothe top surface of the transparent material layer, and thereby the areaof the top surface of the transparent material layer becomes smallerthan that of the top surface of the wavelength converting layer.
 9. Thesemiconductor light-emitting device according to claim 8, wherein eachof the first side surface and the second side surface of the transparentmaterial layer includes two surfaces facing with respect to each other,and each of the two surfaces of the first side surface intersects witheach of the two surfaces of the second side surface at a substantiallyright angle.
 10. The semiconductor light-emitting device according toclaim 4, wherein each of the first side surface and the second sidesurface of the transparent material layer is formed in a substantiallyplanar shape.